Blood alcohol content, probable cause, search and seizure, scope of consent.

A truck driver struck and killed a pedestrian with his rig and was charged with second degree manslaughter. The reporting police officer suspected that the motorist was intoxicated and asked him to submit to a blood alcohol test and urine sample to check for drugs. The driver agreed to the blood test which showed no trace of alcohol, but he refused to submit to urine testing. He later signed a written agreement to this effect. Without the knowledge or consent of the driver, the police sent the blood sample to the lab for drug testing which revealed the presence of marijuana in his system. The truck driver went to court to suppress the results of the drug test which he said he had never authorized.

The Circuit Court of Multnomah County granted the defendant's motion to suppress the drug test results on the grounds that the unauthorized test constituted an unreasonable search and seizure. The State of Oregon appealed.

The State of Oregon loses. The Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the lower court. The defendant's written consent granted the State the right to test for alcohol only. The scope of a search, the Court argued, is always determined by the person being tested and in this instance the defendant never authorized a drug search.